Bill Shorten elected Labor leader

Bill Shorten has been elected Labor leader, despite a clear majority of party members preferring his opponent, Anthony Albanese.

Mr Shorten, 46, of the Right faction, is the first Labor leader to be elected under rules introduced by former prime minister Kevin Rudd, in which the result of a ballot of the Labor rank and file is weighted equally against a ballot of Labor MPs.

Mr Shorten's support among his fellow MPs enabled him to overcome weaker support among the party membership.

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He won 55 of the 86 votes in caucus – amounting to the support of 63.95 per cent of his colleagues. Combined with the support of 40.08 per cent of the party membership, Mr Shorten prevailed with an overall vote of 52.02 per cent.

A total of 30,426 party members voted in the election, representing about 74 per cent of the rank and file. Mr Albanese attracted 18,230 rank-and-file votes to Mr Shorten's 12,196.

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Chris Bowen, who has served as interim leader during the month-long leadership contest, described Mr Shorten as "a man who has dedicated his working life to representing vulnerable people ... whether they be workers (or) people with a disability".

"People right across the country have a friend and supporter in Bill Shorten," Mr Bowen told reporters in Canberra.

Mr Bowen also praised Mr Albanese, 50, of the Left faction, as "a great warrior for our cause" who continued to have a "very significant" contribution to make in Parliament.

Asked whether the result provided an argument for the leadership to be entirely determined by party members, Mr Bowen said he believed the new system struck the right balance. "I think this process is now here to stay," he said.